New Look closes more UK stores

New Look has confirmed that several stores across the UK have been closed by the retailer, which noted the closures were a “normal course of business”. 

Four of its sites stopped trading in January, with three further stores closing their doors this month. 

Last month, the retailer’s sites in Fort Shopping Park in Birmingham, Birmingham Bullring, Trowbridge and Coventry were closed. 

Another site in Walthamstow, London closed earlier this month, with stores in Kirkcaldy and the Grosvenor Centre, Northampton also set to close. 

Despite the closures, the group said it has plans for further store openings in the coming year. 

A New Look spokesperson told Retail Sector: “As part of the normal course of business, New Look occasionally closes sites, but also opens new stores when the right opportunities arise. While a small number of stores have closed in recent months, our most recent new openings were in November 2022 and we have plans for further openings in the first half of this year.”

It follows on from news that H&M has closed around one in five of its shops in the UK, as sales continued to be impacted by changing consumer behaviour. 

The chain reportedly closed 56 stores since its peak in the months before the pandemic, leaving only 192 outlets in the UK. 

Last November, H&M told Retail Sector: “During the last few years, we have seen a rapid change in customer behaviour that we cannot ignore. We continuously need to evaluate and develop our business to meet our customers’ needs and offer the best possible shopping experience, whether it’s online or in our physical stores.”